One of the challenges the human body experiences disrupting a state of comfort is overheating. Heat can commonly come from at least two sources, which include heat from the environment and heat from within the body, particularly when the person is physically exerting his/her body. The body's cooling mechanism when exposed to heat is by evaporation (i.e. sweat). Unfortunately, if the sweat is not able to evaporate from the body's surface as fast as it is being produced, the person's discomfort level can increase rapidly, particularly when his/her garments get wet and subsequently soaked.
Wet garments can become very uncomfortable by impeding proper evaporation of sweat from the body. Additionally, wet garments tend to stick to the body and thereby impede the body's ability to move freely within the garment adversely affecting, for example, an athlete's performance by restricting range of motion. Additionally, failure to properly cool the body by sweat evaporation, particularly in an uncomfortably warm environment, can have adverse health effects on the body, such as heat exhaustion and/or heat stroke.
Mesh fabrics have been integrated in some athletic garments to aid in the evaporative cooling of athletes during physical exertion. However, these mesh fabrics are often not enough to help the athlete stay comfortably dry within the garment, especially in areas of the body such as the shoulders because the material tends to lay flat on the shoulders, not allowing airflow through the mesh.